Saturday, 22 March 2014

Malaysia says China has new images of floating objects

Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein shows a note from the
Chinese ambassador stating that they have received new satellite images
during the search for missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, at a
press conference near Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on
March 22, 2014. China has new satellite images of one or more floating
objects that could be related to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370,
Hishammuddin said. It was not immediately clear how many possible
objects had been spotted, but the minister said one was estimated at 22
metres by 30 metres (72 by 98 feet)

KUALA LUMPUR, Saturday

China released Saturday
a new satellite image of a large floating object possibly linked to
missing Malaysian Flight MH370, boosting search efforts as anger with
the pace of the operation boiled over among Chinese relatives in
Beijing.

The grainy photo taken on March 18 released by
the State Administration of Science Technology and Industry showed an
object measuring 22.5 metres by 13 metres (74 by 43 feet) in the
southern Indian Ocean.

The location was given as just
120 kilometres (75 miles) distant from where March 16 satellite images
-- released by Australia on Thursday -- had detected two pieces of
possible wreckage in a remote, storm-swept stretch of ocean around 2,500
kilometres southwest of Perth.

Six planes, including
four Orion anti-submarine aircraft packed with state-of-the-art
surveillance equipment, scoured the area for a third straight day
without success Saturday.

The emergence of the new
photo was announced in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysian Transport Minister,
Hishammuddin Hussein, who was a handed a note during his daily press
briefing on the international search for MH370 which vanished two weeks
ago.

A visibly animated Hishammuddin wrapped up the briefing early "to follow this lead".

Chinese,
British and Australian naval ships are already steaming to the search
area and the new image will provide welcome backing for the decision to
deploy so many resources without confirmation that the objects are
pieces of wreckage.

Two-thirds of the 227 passengers on
board the missing plane were Chinese and growing anger among their
family members over Malaysia's handling of the crisis exploded during a
meeting with Malaysian officials at a Beijing hotel.

Police
were forced to intervene as relatives rushed towards the officials,
demanding answers which they accuse the Malaysians of withholding.

TELL US THE TRUTH!

"Government of Malaysia, tell us the truth! Give us back our loved ones!" they shouted.

After the police stepped in, the Malaysian officials left the room.

"We
can't bear it any longer," one of the relatives said later. "They're
offering us compensation, but we've lost our entire families. Before he
cut short his briefing in Kuala Lumpur, Hishammuddin promised to
continue engaging with the families despite the growing tensions.

"I know this roller coaster has been incredibly hard for everyone, especially for the families," he said.

In Perth, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss vowed there would be no let up in the search.

"We
intend to ... search until we are absolutely satisfied that further
searching would be futile and that day is not in sight," Truss said.

"At this stage we are planning to continue indefinitely."

The
distance from Australia's west coast allows the Orions only about two
hours of actual search time before they must turn around with enough
fuel to get back to Perth.

MH370 dropped off civilian
radar on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and two weeks
later Malaysian investigators still believe it was "deliberately
diverted" by someone on board.

Three scenarios have
gained particular traction: hijacking, pilot sabotage, and a sudden
mid-air crisis that incapacitated the flight crew and left the plane to
fly on auto-pilot for several hours until it ran out of fuel and
crashed.

Finding wreckage in the remote southern Indian
Ocean would undermine the hijacking theory, which many of the relatives
continue to cling to.

RELATIVES BEING IGNORED?

Sarah
Bajc, the partner of American passenger Philip Wood, voiced concern
that the sudden focus on a particular section of the Indian Ocean was
happening at the expense of a land search along a northern route the
plane may have taken over South and Central Asia.

"I
believe, and I think many people believe, the passengers are being held
for some other purpose. But so far that doesn't seem to be listened to,"
Bajc told CNN

"If there's a chance it was taken by an
abductor of some sort, then we should be putting at least some of our
resources towards looking on land," she added.

The search for MH370 has become one of the longest -- and certainly largest -- in modern aviation history.

Expectations
based on advances in technology, coupled with the modern era's
relentless 24-hour media coverage, would seem to rule out public
acceptance of the idea that the aircraft may never be found.

Scott
Hamilton, managing director of US-based aviation consultancy Leeham
Co., said the investigation would simply have to continue for as long as
it takes.

"This is, in all probability, a criminal act, and thereby presumed murder of more than 230 people," Hamilton said.

"Worse,
if this is some kind of terror event that is a precursor to something
bigger in the future, authorities will presumably do all they can to
make this determination and work to prevent it -- whatever 'it' is," he
added.

Malaysia has asked the FBI to help recover data
it said was deleted from a home flight simulator belonging to the
plane's chief pilot, Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, but otherwise no
evidence has emerged to implicate him.